Head of Commissioning, Contracts and Income in Hereford

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the Team at Wye Valley Trust in Herefordshire, on a fixed term basis. As Head of Commissioning, Contracts and Income you will be responsible for the overall management and performance of the commissioning, contracts and income team and the Trust's complex commissioning and contracting relationships. You will play a key role in shaping and adapting systems and processes to meet the changing needs of commissioner-provider relationships in the post-Covid contractual landscape. As Herefordshire moves to Place based commissioning the post holder will be an integral part of establishing the due diligence for delegated contracts and ongoing oversight of Place contracts. The aim of the role is to ensure the efficiency, effectiveness, integrity and business focus of financial systems and processes related to income and advising on highly complex issues.

As a small Trust we are able to offer regular contact with both CFO, Deputy CFOs and the wider Executive team, supporting exposure to a wide range of opportunities for career development. This role is based across the main NHS sites in Herefordshire while also embracing the option of agile working, through a combination of on-site working and working from home, should this flexibility be attractive to the right candidate.

Main duties of the job

• The post holder is responsible for maximising income recovery and ensuring income due to Herefordshire is secured, currently this is through contracts totalling approximately £400 million.
• This will involve maintaining strong relationships with commissioners and stakeholders to enable delivery of key contracting priorities and provision of services.
• Strong negotiation, interpersonal and communication skills are essential.
• Internally, building strong collaborative relationships with the Information Team and Divisional Management Teams will be fundamental to success in the role.
• Supporting health economy planning and modelling of future service provision arising from the Strategic Transformation Plans.
• Leading the production of monthly income reporting (internal and external) that support the production of relevant statutory NHS accounts and returns according to timescales and legal requirements, interpreting these where necessary.
• This includes being the main contact for income related Audit queries as part of the year end process.
• Providing timely and accurate management information to support the operational and financial planning processes, ensuring triangulation between activity, income and commissioner assumptions.
• The role requires a significant degree of independent working as well as close working with senior professionals and stakeholders both within and outside the Trust.

Working for our organisation

Wye Valley NHS Trust is a member of an NHS Foundation Group with South Warwickshire NHS FT, George Eliot Hospital NHS Trust and Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust. Located on the border with Wales in the shadow of the Black Mountains, we provide acute and community services across Herefordshire and into parts of Powys and run Hereford County Hospital and the community hospitals in Bromyard, Leominster and Ross-on-Wye. We are a progressive and forward looking trust with ambitious plans to improve quality and integrate patient pathways through close collaborative working with our partners to deliver the quality of care we’d want for our family and friends. Around 4,000 people work for the Trust – they tell us it’s a great place to work, blending the busyness of a DGH with the benefits of working in a beautiful rural and unspoilt county like Herefordshire. We can offer a great work-life balance and have a fine tradition of working with staff to help them achieve their full potential. Our values - Care, Accountability, Respect and Excellence - are at the heart of all we do. We believe in providing the right care in the right place at the right time…all the time.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To view role requirements and role responsibilities in full, please view ‘supporting documents’ linked to this vacancy.

Person specification

Education & Qualifications

• Professionally qualified as an Accountant with current CCAB or CIMA professional membership.
• Commitment and evidence of continuing professional development in line with the post holder’s professional accounting body.

Skills, Knowledge & Abilities

• Able to demonstrate strong influencing and negotiation skills and to develop strong and effective relationships.
• Up to date knowledge of NHS Finance and Accounting practice.
• Full understanding of the NHS Performance regime.
• Ability to analyse highly complex issue and makes judgements on financial decisions and financial risk where there is no precedent and where other leading opinions may conflict.
• Strong understanding of information activity, currency and design and association with patient flows.
• Excellent skills in the use of Microsoft Office products.
• Leadership Skills at a line management level.
• Expert knowledge of NHS Standard Contract.
• Expert knowledge of National Tariff Payment Regime, other methods and currency of contracts for income collection.

Experience

• Planning projects which impact across the organisation.
• Comfortable and capable of clear communicating at all levels.
• Experience of working collaboratively across Organisations.
• Experience of NHS Commissioning.
• Experience of NHS Reference Costs and Costing Transformation Programme.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration. This post will require a submission for Disclosure to be made to check for any unspent criminal convictions.

Contact Information

Name: Heather Moreton
Email: heather.moreton@wvt.nhs.uk
Telephone: 01432 364000

For an informal chat about the role please contact Heather Moreton, Deputy CFO via email.